Free Divided Worlds Trilogy 01 - Disconnect by Imran Siddiq Page B

him, yet a sensation warmed his body. “I guess I did.”
    Her cheeks ballooned. “Why?”
    “I’m not used to talking to a girl, especially one who’s different from the girls around here. “I suppose,” Zachary went on, “I wanted us to speak again, and maybe end the call without hating one another.”
    “Who said I hated you?”
    “Me,” he whispered. “I’m sorry if I made you angry.”
    “And you’re sorry for being a moron?”
    “A moron?”
    Chuckling, Rosa pushed her hand under her neck. “I meant it when I told you to sell the Raptor, and to wipe the memory. I really, really meant it. But I’m happy that you didn’t. I can’t remember the last time that I spoke to anyone for longer than yelling at them to get out of my garden. My life’s been pretty lonely, until now.” Her face sunk close to her Intercom. “Do you have a family? Siblings?”
    “My dad and Patch.”
    “An only child. Like me.”
    A sense of responsibility taunted Zachary. Should he tell her about the MOSD, and the recording he’d witnessed? Considering the negative effect upon Rosa, he rejected the topic. “Do you think you’ll ever visit Assayer?”
    Rosa’s midair image wobbled for a second. “All I’ve ever wanted is to be around other people. Don’t get me wrong, I truly love my parents, but I need more, and in the weirdest possible way, you’ve been that for me. I’ve been dying to contact you again.” Her smile never dropped. “Damn shortage.”
    Rosa pulled the tip of a loose strand of hair into her mouth. “Father will be joining the House of Representatives again. That’s not how I wanted our return to Assayer to be.”
    “Don’t you want him to be reinstated?”
    “No,” snapped Rosa. “That’s what got him into trouble last time.”
    Zachary leaned inward. “What did he do?”
    Her mouth quietened. “I don’t know exactly. My entire home has Obstruction-modules that prevent me searching or viewing anything with even a hint of my surname. Mother and father never talk about it.”
    “That’s strange.”
    “Story of my life.”
    Crossing lines sped over her image, then the Intercom switched off.
    Zachary shook the Raptor. “Hello?”
    He pressed the ridges. Nothing. Had the Intercom’s battery drained? He was sure that Rosa hadn’t turned her Intercom off. Her hands had been under her neck.
    Zachary inserted his thumb into the recognition-pad. The prompt for the password came. He spoke the letters required, “F – A – I – L.”
    The Intercom dazzled orange, green and yellow amidst a melodic tune of three beats for a few seconds. A vertical list of choices flickered in midair.
    Calendar. Messages. Web. Calls . He tapped the Calls choice. The line opened to show further choices. Recently Made. Received. New. Favourites . It had to be the Recently Made choice. Zachary tapped it. An empty screen returned. With harsher breaths, irritating his throat, he tapped the back arrow.
    For a short time, Zachary buried his chin into the neckline of his vest.
    The Raptor rattled in his hand. He repeated the ridge presses.
    Undone hair hung over Rosa’s shoulder. “Did you cut me off?”
    “No,” replied Zachary.
    “Blasted shortage again. I’d hoped they’d sorted them out.”
    Or another MOSD, he thought.
    Rosa scratched her head. “I’m on borrowed time. I ran to Alice to check the Raptor. She confirmed no anomalies – and then she gave me the biggest android lecture I’ve ever heard. She kept going on about how it’s wrong to speak with you. One of these days, I am so going to remove her Emote-chip.”
    “Patch would probably say the same to me.”
    “What do they know? They’re just a bunch of circuits,” chuckled Rosa.
    A flutter brushed the back of Zachary’s hair. “I tried to call you, but I couldn’t work it out. Too many options, but your password worked.”
    “Well, as it is the password I set on the Raptor, I’d be alarmed if it didn’t.”
    Eyes locked, he didn’t